John Qualen(1899-1987)
- Actor
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
One of the best and most familiar character actors of the first four
decades of sound films, although few who knew his face also knew his
name, John Qualen was born in Canada to Norwegian parents. His father was a
minister. The family moved to the United States and Qualen (whose real
name was Kvalen) grew up in Elgin, Illinois. He won an oratory contest
and was given a scholarship to Northwestern University. His interest in
acting was piqued there, and he began appearing in tent shows on the
Lyceum-Chautauqua circuit and in stock. He went to New York in 1929
and got his big break as the Swedish janitor in Elmer Rice's Street Scene.
He repeated the role two years later in the film version. That same
year he first worked for director John Ford in Arrowsmith (1931). He became a
member of Ford's famed stock company and had prominent roles for Ford
for the next thirty-five years. He became a most familiar character
player, specializing in Scandinavians of various nationalities, but
frequently playing a wide variety of other ethnicities. Perhaps his
greatest work among many memorable roles was as the pitiful Muley, who
recounts the destruction of his farm by the bank in Ford's masterpiece
The Grapes of Wrath (1940). Although plagued in his later years by failing eyesight, he
continued to work steadily into his final years. He was treasurer of
The Authors Club and historian of The Masquers, Hollywood's famed
social group for actors. He had three children, Elizabeth, Kathleen,
and Meredith. Qualen died in 1987.
